Whither tubular structures research?

摘要

The refinement of design equations for tubular steel structures is a popular research subject, but all too often these studies lead to extremely complex design formulae and application limits which few engineers can apply correctly, either manually or by computer programming. On the other hand, much less attention has been paid to structural reliability or safety calibration, material properties of manufactured hollow sections, and fabrication problems. Some observations on, and investigations into, these topics are discussed in this paper.